Arizona weekly enterprise., 1887-11-12
HISTORY OF AERoNAUTIcs.
The Recent Experiment. at meudon -rhe MOntgolfiers and Others.

-4he 6El0 ObhCISs
 London Times
 No little excitement has been caused in France by the news that successful experiment in balloon-steering was per formed at Meudon, near Paris, on the 9th of last month-a date which Nj. Nerve Mangon, in reporting the expert ment to the Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, declared twill remain ever memorable in the annals of discovery" We are unable to judge the importance of the alleged invention, for its authors are the two military officers in command of the government aerostatic works, which were instituted under M. Gam betta's auspices, and the technical secrets of their contrivance have, of course, been disclosed to the war office only.
 Without expressing an opinion-since we have no data for doing so-on the value of an invention which has not been submitted to public scrutiny, we may briefly recall what has been the progress of aeronautics since the first balloon rose into the air little more than century ago. At this time last year the town of Annonay was celebrat- ing the centenary of ballooning by the inauguration of a monument to the brothers Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier; but the first practical idea as to aerial navigation may be credited to an eccen- tric character who lived in the seven teenth century, Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano wrote a number of fantastic books, which were consulted by Swift for his ''Gulliver," by Voltaire for his Mi cromegas," and by Fontenelle for his ''Mondes" In the most popular of these, "Trip Through the Moon, the hero is made to ascend from the earth by means of bladders filled with hot air.
 The Montgol iors improved upon this notion by substituting one globe of silk for several bladders; in other respects their balloon was an adaptation of Ber- gerac's idea, for it had an aperture at its base into which hot air rose from a charcoal stove in the car. The first hot air balloon was sent up on the 5th of June, 17S3, without car. In August of the same year an engineer named Charles started balloon inflated with hydrogen gas. In September the Mont golfers launched a new ire-balloon with 8 car in which was placed sheep, a a cock, and duck, who all returned safe to land; and in October the first human aeronaut, Nj. Francois Pilatre des Roziers. who was afterwards killed in crossing from France to England, as- cended in captive balloon tethered to the earth by ropes. Tn November this adventurous gentleman made his first ascent in free balloon, and went up to height of 5000 feet-an achievement which excited the widest enthusiasm 1 and the most fanciful anticipations. All | the practical scientists of Europe be- came smitten with craze for aerial nav | igation; books and pamphlets on the subject were published by the score, and it was believed that method for steer ing balloons would be contrived without much difficulty
 The first ascent in England was made from Woolwich in November 17S3; in 17S8 a Sig. Lunardi started in balloon from Moorfelds, and in 17S5 Mir. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries performed tqeir famous journey from Dover to Calais in two hours. After this no distinct advance was made in ballooning until 1891, when Mr. Green used ordinary coal ga; instead of hydrogen for infating pur poses. The manufacture of hydrogen had been troublesome and expensive but the substitution of coal gas enabled balloons to be blown at a compara' lively small cost, and from this tim' they became popular objects of amuse ment in public gardens. The famou, trips of the great Nassau" balloon which went up from Vauxhall gardens in 1s36, are still remembered by man, living persons with wonder Tn, c.. ence, it's full height from car to sunni was eighty feet; it was made of 20t yards of crimson and white silk, anC contained 10000 cubic feet of gas Nine persons could be carried in it car On one of its first voyages it de scended in the duchy of Nassau, havin! travelled about 500 miles in eighteen hours
 From MT. Greens days until now n genuine advance has been made in bal looming. There have been innumerabl ascents with many accidents-thougl not so many of these as might have beel expected; and some of these ascents un dertaken for scientific ends have yieldet interesting observations on atmospheri phenomena. Mr Glaisher and Mr Cox well nearly lost their lives in mountin to height of 29, ,000 feet, but, notwith standing the information obtained iron Mr Glaisher's ascents the British Asso citation for the Advancement of Gcieno has suffered aeronautical investigation to droo out of their programme. Befor dismissing a subject which has alway been fraught with the greatest interes and which, indeed, exercises somethin like fascination upon every mind, tn association had been fairly married b papers on balloon steering from inventor of the kind who have not yet given u trying to square the circle, and we be lieve the patents that have been take out for various contrivances in aero nautics can hardly be numbered. Hog ever, the problem of balloon steering ha } never been regarded even by scientists C , the first order as insoluble in theory; it } only in practice that experiments hay ; failed, because it has not been foun possible to construct motor combinin ; power with lightness.